Kindred By Octavia E. Butler

 

Kindred

By Octavia E. Butler

 Dana and her husband have just moved into a new house in California when she is suddenly ripped out of the modern world and finds herself in the slave-owning south. Dana, a black woman, finds herself in a precarious position. It seems her fate and her time traveling are wrapped up in the near-death experiences of a young white boy named Rufus, who seems to have a connection with Dana. Each time she is pulled back she saves Rufus from impending death. At first he seems welcoming and open-minded. He is in love with a slave girl. But as he grows he changes, becoming harder and much more like his father in mind and beliefs. Repeatedly, Dana is brought back (once with her husband who gets stranded there for many years) and she struggles with Rufus over his changing attitudes. Each time she returns her position becomes more uncertain, with Rufus eventually wanting her to stay by any means. Dana knows the only way she can get back home for good is to either end her own life or Rufus's.

This was a great book, full of suspense and tension. A soft science fiction that I could get behind. The scenes in the south were often brutal. Dana's choices were difficult, and I sometimes questioned them, but she was a compelling character. Rufus, also, was compelling, and their bond a unique idea for a story. This was a page turner, with vibrant settings and a quick pace. I'm giving it 4 stars.